Multicancer early detection blood tests are feasible, study suggests

Multicancer early detection (MCED) blood tests are feasible for detecting cancer, according to a study published online Oct. 5 in The Lancet.

Deb Schrag, M.D., from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, and colleagues conducted a prospective cohort study to examine the feasibility of MCED testing for cancer screening in a convenience sample of adults aged 50 years or older without signs or symptoms of cancer. A total of 6,662 participants were recruited between Dec. 12, 2019, and Dec. 4, 2020; 6,621 had analyzable results.

The researchers detected a cancer signal in 1.4% of participants with analyzable results. Of these, 38% were diagnosed with cancer (true positives) and 62% had no cancer diagnosis (false positives). The median time to diagnostic resolution was 79 days: 57 and 162 days in true-positive and false-positive participants, respectively.

Most of the participants had laboratory tests (79 and 88% with true-positive and false-positive results, respectively) and imaging (91 and 93%, respectively). In participants with false-positive results, fewer procedures were conducted than in those with true-positive results (30 versus 82%).

"Although this study establishes clinical feasibility of MCED testing, forthcoming results of larger studies will be required to show clinical utility and effects on cancer mortality," the authors write.